Method and apparatus for installing transmission lines

ABSTRACT

A transmission line, such as an optical fibre (or wire) transmission line, is installed by first installing a conduit having one or more bores and subsequently inserting flexible, lightweight optical fibre members containing the optical fibres into the bores. The optical fibre members are propelled by employing the fluid drag of air, or another suitable gas, passed at high velocity through the bores.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/086,849filed Aug. 19, 1987 (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,097) which is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 06/848,950 filed Apr. 7,1986 (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,896) which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 06/551,640 filed Nov. 8, 1983 (now abandoned).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to optical fibre and other lightweightand flexible transmission lines. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a method and apparatus for installing such communicationsmedia.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Optical fibre cables carrying optical fibre transmission lines haveheretofore been installed by the same methods as conventional metalconductor cables. Such methods usually involve pulling the cable with apulling rope through a previously laid cable duct. Frequently the cableduct already contains one or more conventional cables at the time ofinstalling the optical fibre cable.

Unlike the metal conductors of a conventional cable, the optical fibresare easily damaged by tensile stress. Such stress may, for example,propagate micro-cracks, leading to fibre breakage in the long term. Itis, therefore, standard practice to reinforce optical fibre cables byproviding a central strength member, usually one or more steel tensionwires, about which the optical fibres are disposed. The strength membertakes up, and thus increases the ability of the cable to withstand,tensile stresses accompanying installation of the cable.

Unfortunately, the central strength member usually provides insufficientprotection against local stresses caused by pulling a further cablethrough the same duct. The conventional approach of installing at theoutset optical fibre cables containing sufficiently large numbers ofoptical fibres to satisfy foreseeable future traffic demands is a way ofovercoming this problem. In consequence, first time installation ofoptical fibre cables containing dozens or even hundreds of opticalfibres are currently envisaged despite the fact that to begin with asmall fraction of the installed fibres would provide ample trafficcarrying capacity. A further reason for installing optical fibre cablesof comparatively large dimension is that the smaller the cross sectionof the cable the more prone the cable becomes to wedging in betweenthose cables already present in the duct.

The first time installation of large diameter optical fibre cables withhigh numbers of optical fibres, is, however, undesirable for a varietyof reasons. Firstly, there are problems of a technical nature inherentin such cables, such as, for example, the difficulty of forming jointsand of achieving the required high strength-to-weight ratios. Secondly,there are clear economical drawbacks in committing large resources toinstall initially unused fibre capacity, particularly in view of thecomparatively recent origins of optical fibre technology which lead oneto expect continued substantial reductions in the price and improvementin the quality of optical fibres. Thirdly, there is the serious risk ofdamaging in a single incident very large numbers of expensive opticalfibres. Finally, there is an appreciable loss in flexibility whenrouting high density optical fibre transmission lines.

A method of installing optical fibres with pulling ropes and pull chordsis described in "Sub-ducts: The Answer to Honolulu's Growing Pains",Herman S L Hu and Ronald T. Miyahara, Telephony, 7 Apr. 1980, pp 23 to35. The installation method described there proceeds as follows asection of existing 4-inch (100 mm) duct is rodded and thereafterbetween one and three individual 1-inch (25 mm) polyethylene tubes areinserted into the duct using pulling ropes. The polyethylene tubes formsubducts into which an optical fibre cable can be pulled with the aid ofa nylon pull chord which has previously been inserted into the subductby means of a parachute attached to its leading end and pushed throughthe subduct with compressed air.

The method just referred to does deal with some of the problemsdiscussed above, but only to a very limited extend. Thus, it enablesfibre capacity to be increased in up to three stages, and separates theoptical fibre cables from those cables already in the duct, therebygreatly reducing the likelihood of jamming, and hence overstressing, ofthe optical fibre cable.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or at leastappreciably mitigate the majority of the aforementioned problems ofinstalling optical fibre transmission lines.

It is another object to provide a method of installing optical fibretransmission lines which is comparatively simple and yet flexible andeconomical. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention toutilize this same method to install other lightweight and flexible wiretransmission lines as well. The transmission lines may comprise one ormore of the following, in any combination: optical fibres, wires orother electrical conducting media, other dielectric transmission media,or any other medium capable of carrying data. The only other requirementis that the transmission medium should be sufficiently lightweight andflexible for installation by the method of the invention. The term"transmission line" as used hereinafter in this specification and claimsshall be construed to mean transmission lines as defined above.

According to the present invention, a method of advancing a lightweightand flexible transmission line along a tubular pathway comprisesinserting the free end of such a line into a previously installedpathway, and propelling the line along the pathway by fluid drag of agaseous medium passed through the pathway in the desired direction ofadvance.

It will be appreciated that to generate sufficient fluid drag to propelthe transmission line, the gaseous medium has to be passed through thepathway with a flow velocity much higher than the desired rate ofadvance.

The terms "lightweight and flexible" with respect to the transmissionline are to be understood as meaning "sufficiently lightweight andflexible" for the transmission line to be propelled by the fluid drag.

Whether the transmission line is sufficiently lightweight and flexibleand the flow velocity sufficiently high is readily determinable by asimple trial and error experiment, guided, if necessary, by thetheoretical model discussed below.

The flow velocity of the gaseous medium may be steady or may be suitablyvaried, for example either between a first velocity producing no, orinsufficient, fluid drag to propel the fibre or wire member, and asecond velocity producing sufficient fluid drag to propel the fibre orwire member, or between a first and second velocity both producingsufficient fluid drag for propelling the fibre or wire member.Conveniently the variations in velocity take the form of repeated abruptchanges between the first and second velocity.

The aforementioned variations in flow velocity may include periodsduring which the flow is reversed with respect to the desired directionof advance of the transmission line.

It is to be understood that more than one transmission line may bepropelled along the same tubular pathway.

A transmission line may, for example, comprise a single optical fibre orwire, protected by at least a primary coating but preferably containedwithin an outer envelope. Alternatively, a fibre or wire member maycomprise a plurality of optical fibres or wires contained within acommon envelope. The envelope may loosely or tightly surround the fibre(wire), or fibres (wires).

The method may be used for insertion of an optical fibre or wire memberinto, or its withdrawal from, the pathway.

The gaseous medium is chosen to be compatible with the environment inwhich the invention is performed, and in ordinary environments will be anon-hazardous gas or gas mixture. With the proviso about compatibilitywith the environment, the gaseous medium is preferably air or nitrogen.

The tubular pathways and/or the fibre or wire members are convenientlybut not necessarily of circular cross-section, and the fibre or wiremember is always smaller than the pathway.

In practice, when installing an optical fibre member, the pathwayinternal diameter will generally be greater, and frequently much greaterthan 1 mm, and the external diameter of the fibre member greater than0.5 mm.

A preferred range of diameters for the pathway is 1 to 10 mm,conveniently between 3 and 7 mm, and a preferred range of diameters forthe fibre members is 1 to 4 mm, although much larger diameters may beused provided the fibre member is sufficiently lightweight and flexible.The diameter of the fibre members is preferably chosen to be greaterthan one tenth, and conveniently to be about one half of the pathwaydiameter or greater (and appropriately less, of course, if more than onefibre member is to be propelled through the same pathway).

Insertion of a fibre (or wire) member by means of the fluid drag of agas passing over the fibre member has several advantages over methodsinvolving pulling an optical fibre (wire) cable with a pull cord.

Firstly, the extra step of providing a pull cord is eliminated.

Secondly, using the fluid drag of a gaseous medium produces adistributed pulling force on the fibre (wire) member. This isparticularly advantageous if the installation route contains one or morebends. If, as would be the case with a pulling cord, the pulling forcewere concentrated at the leading end of the fibre member, any deviationof the pathway from a straight line would greatly increase frictionbetween the fibre member and the internal walls of the pathway, and onlya few bends would be sufficient to cause locking of the fibre. Thedistributed pulling force produced by the fluid drag, on the other hand,enables bends to be negotiated fairly easily, and the number of bends ina given installation is no longer of much significance.

Thirdly, the fluid drag substantially reduces overall pulling stress onthe fibre (or wire) member and so permits the fibre (or wire) member tobe of relatively simple and cheap construction.

Furthermore, because the fibre member is not subjected to anysubstantial pulling stress during installation, little allowance, ifany, needs to be made for subsequent relaxation.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method ofinstalling a transmission line comprises installing a conduit having oneor more ductlets providing tubular pathways. The communications routemay be initially designed and upgraded according to a customer's needsor desires. For example, after installation of the conduit, wire memberscontaining one or more lightweight and flexible wires initially may bepropelled through a pathway using fluid drag. Thereafter, the route maybe upgraded by installing further wire members and/or inserting, by theaforesaid method using fluid drag, one or more fibre members into theassociated ductlets as required.

Installing optical fibre and/or wire transmission lines by this methodhas several advantages over conventional techniques.

First, since the conduit is installed without containing any opticalfibres, conventional rope pulling and similar techniques may be freelyemployed for installing the conduit.

Second, the capacity can readily be adapted to requirements. Thus, whileinitially only one or two fibre or wire members may be sufficient tocarry the traffic, the conduit may contain a much larger number ofductlets than are required at the time of installation, and furtherfibre members may be inserted later on as and when needed. The conduitof the present invention is cheap compared to the cost of the fibres,and spare ductlets to accommodate further fibres and/or wires as andwhen extra capacity is required can thus be readily incorporated withoutadding more than a small fraction to overall costs.

The method of the present invention also permits the installation ofimproved later generations of transmission lines. It is possible, forexample, to install at first one or more fibre members incorporatingmultimode fibres, and at a later date add, or replace the installedmultimode fibre members with fibre members incorporating monomodefibres. Installed fibre members may conveniently be withdrawn from theductlet, and replacement fibre members be inserted by using theaforesaid method of propelling by fluid drag of a gaseous medium.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an opticalfibre cable comprises a conduit including one or more ductlets formingtubular pathways and capable of loosely accommodating an optical fibremember, and at least one optical fibre member inserted by theaforementioned method using fluid drag. The conduit may be rigid orflexible.

Where the conduit includes more than one ductlet, the ductlets areconveniently formed by bores in the material of the conduit. The term"bore", like the word "tubular" is understood in this context to includecircular and other suitable shapes of cross-sectional area.

Alternatively, the conduit may comprise a plurality of individual tubesenveloped by a common outer sheath.

It will be appreciated that the present invention largely avoids therisk, inherent in handling optical fibre cables with a large number offibres, of accidentally damaging before or during installation in asingle event a large number of expensive optical fibres.

The present invention also enables the installation of continuousoptical fibres over several installation lengths without joints.

Furthermore, individual fibre members routed through the conduit can berouted, without requiring fibre joints, into different branch conduitsat junction points.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be explained further by way of exampleand with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a cross section through a conduit suitable for implementingthe invention:

FIGS. 2 and 3 are relatively enlarged cross sections through fibremembers;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of apparatus for inserting fibre membersinto ductlets by fluid drag;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a junction between a trunk and a branchconduit;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram to illustrate the notation used in dragforce calculations;

FIG. 7 is a schematic section of a modified drive unit; and

FIG. 8 is a graph of drag force vs pressure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a conduit 11 incorporating sixductlets 12, one of which contains a transmission line in the form of afibre or wire member 14, and a core 13.

The conduit 11 is made of extruded polymer or other suitable material,the ductlets, or bores, 12 being formed in the conduit during itsextrusion. The central core 13 contains copper wire pairs required fortesting operations during and after installation, repeater supervision,power supply, and the like. Alternatively, or additionally, the core 13may incorporate reinforcements, for example tension wires, to take upthe tension forces during installation of the conduit. Where required,the conduit may be surrounded by a water barrier (not shown).

The copper wire pair for testing can be omitted from the core 13 ifsuitable alternative testing facilities are available, such as, forexample, testing methods using optical fibre or wire members insertedsubsequently into the conduit as described below.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section through a fibre or wire member 21 which is ina form particularly suited for installation by fluid drag. For example,the member 21 may comprise several optical fibres 22 lying loosely in apolymer sheath 24. In view of the virtual absence of any pulling stressduring installation of a fibre member by fluid drag, the fibre member 21does not require reinforcement. The relatively simple construction alsoleads to lower production costs, as well as making the fibre member 21comparatively light, thereby enabling easy installation by fluid drag.

In certain circumstances it may be desirable to provide a reinforcedfibre member, and FIG. 3 is a cross-section through such a fibre member31 which, provided it is made light enough and flexible enough, issuitable for insertion by fluid drag into a ductlet 12 of the conduit 11in FIG. 1. The fibre member 31 consists of a plurality of optical fibres32 arranged around a strength member 33 and enclosed in a polymer sheath34.

A wire bundle may be formed in a similar manner. For example, twoseven-strand copper wires may be encased in a foamed coating. Thecompleted unit typically would have a resistance of around 108 ohm/km.Such a unit may be installed in a duct by the drag method describedbelow.

The installation of an optical and/or wire transmission line proceeds asfollows:

The flexible conduit 11 is installed into an existing duct (not shown)by conventional methods such as pulling with a pulling rope.

Because the conduit 11 does not contain any optical fibres at thisstage, the conduit 11 can be handled in the same way as an ordinarycable, and no special care needs to be taken over and above thatcustomary in installing conventional metal conductor cables. Ifrequired, it is also possible at this stage, that is before the conduitcontains any optical fibres, to pull a further conduit through the ductto provide spare capacity.

Furthermore, since the conduit can readily be made of an externaldiameter matching that of cables already in the duct, wedging is lesslikely to occur than with a standard, smaller diameter optical fibrecable.

Depending upon the needs of a particular customer, the communicationsroute may be, for example, initially comprised of conventional coppercables, installed by conventional (e.g., pulling) techniques oralternatively one or more wires encased in bundles (such as shown inFIGS. 2 or 3), which have been propelled through the conduit using thefluid drag technique described in detail below. At a later point intime, the communications route may be upgraded by using the blowingtechnique to install in any desired combination copper wire and/or fibrebundles.

For example, a telecommunications route to a customer, or a network inan existing building may be upgraded by installing a new copper pair bythe fluid drag technique. At any desired point in time the route may befurther upgraded by installing fibre optic members in, for example,different ductlets then those housing the wire members.

It should be recognized that while the description which follows willfocus on propelling optical fibre members through a previously installedtubular pathway, the same mathematical analysis and scientificprinciples apply to propelling other lightweight and flexibletransmission lines such as wire or wire bundles through such a pathway.

Turning back to FIGS. 2 and 3, once a conduit is installed, opticalfibre members such as 21 and 31 are inserted into as many of theductlets 12 as is required. Instead of the afore-described fibre members21 and 31 of near circular cross-section, the fibre members may, forexample, be so-called ribbons, in which a thin, wide sheath encloses anoptical fibre or a plurality of optical fibres lying in the same plane.

Manufacture of the conduit 11 is cheap compared to the optical fibres inthe fibre members 21 or 31 which it is designed to carry, and spareductlets 12 for future expansion can readily be incorporated at theextrusion stage of the conduit 11 without adding unduly to the overallcost. The conduit may be manufactured by adapting conventional cablemanufacturing processes such as, for example, extrusion.

A gas flowing past the surface of a solid object produces a drag forcewhich largely depends on the velocity of the gas relative to thesurface. The applicants have found that this drag force can be madesufficiently large to pull a lightweight optical fibre (or wire) member21, or 31 into a tubular pathway such as, for example, a ductlet 12 ofthe aforementioned conduit 11.

In experiments, the flow velocity, or the flow rate, of air through agiven pathway has been found to depend approximately linearly on thepressure difference between opposite ends of the pathway, with the slopeof the dependency indicating that flow at useful flow rates ispredominantly turbulent.

For a given pressure difference, the flow rate varies with the size ofthe free cross sectional area of the bore, while the drag force on afibre member present in a bore varies with the flow rate and the surfacearea of the fibre member. By selecting a lightweight member having arelatively large surface area, the member may be propelled by the dragforce over an extensive distance. The drag force has been optimized inexperiments by varying these parameters and, in particular, by choosingan appropriate ratio of bore diameter to fibre member diameter.

Experiments have been performed using a bore diameter of 7 mm. Theoptimum fibre member diameter for this bore size has been found to liebetween 2.5 and 4 mm. A pressure below 80 p.s.i. (approximately 5.6kgs/cm²), usually about 40 p.s.i. has been found sufficient to insertfibre members of up to 3.5 gram per meter (gr/m) over lengths of 200meters. A fibre member of 2 gr/m is easily installed over this length.

The theoretical value for the drag forces for these dimensions has beencalculated in the manner described below with reference to FIG. 6 to be2.5 gr/m. Lower practical values are believed to be due to the tendencyof the fibre members 21, 31 to acquire "set" while on the supply reel.This set would appear to force the fibre member 21, 31 against the wallof the bore 12, thereby increasing friction. Suitable texturing orshaping of the fibre member surface may lead to drag forces higher thanthose presently experienced.

It should be noted here that using fluid drag to insert fibre membersinto tubular pathways differs significantly from the method described inthe above mentioned article of inserting pull cords by means ofparachutes. The parachute is propelled by the pressure differencebetween the air in front of and the air behind the parachute, and thevelocity of the air relative to the advancing cord is only minimal andthe pulling force is localized at the point of attachment of theparachute. In contrast, using fluid drag requires a much higher flowvelocity of fluid than the speed of advancement of the fibre members.

Also, unlike the use of parachutes or potential other methods ofinserting fibre members into the tubular pathways, using fluid dragproduces a uniformly distributed pulling force on the fibre member. Thisreduces the strain on the optical fibres within the fibre member to verylow values.

In ordinarily pulling a fibre member through a bend enclosing an angleθ, the tension of the leading end, T₂ is related to the tension T₁ atthe trailing end T₂ /T₁ =e.sup.μθ, where μ is the coefficient offriction. Even a small number of bends in the pathway may thereforeresult in an unacceptably high force being required at the leading endif locking of the fibre member is to be avoided. In contrast, thedistributed pulling force produced by fluid drag is applied evenly alongthe fibre member, including in bends, and permits a large number ofbends to be easily and speedily negotiated without any undue stress onthe fibre member.

FIG. 4 illustrates apparatus for feeding fibre (or wire) members intotubular pathways such as the ductlets 12 of the conduit 11 of FIG. 1.The apparatus consists of a feedhead 41 which contains a straight bore44 connected at one end, its outlet end 42, to a flexible tube 49, andat the other end, its inlet end 43, to a supply reel (not shown). Thehead 41 also contains an inlet 45 for air. The outlet end 42 and thebore 44 are substantially larger in cross sectional area than fibremember 46. The aperture of the inlet end 43 is only slightly larger incross sectional area than that of the fibre member 46. This arrangementforms an air block which presents a relatively large flow resistance toair and helps prevent air escaping through the inlet duct 43. The tube49 is inserted into one of the ductlets of the conduit 11. Suitableseals between the feedhead 41 and the tube 49, and the ductlet 12prevent undesirable escape of the air.

In use the fibre member 46 is fed into the inlet end 43 of the feedhead41 by means of a pair of rubber drive wheels 47 and 48, driven by aconstant torque driving mechanism (not shown). As will be explainedfurther below, the insertion force provided by the driving mechanism isan important element in this embodiment of the present invention since afree end of the fibre (or wire) member must be introduced in the tubularpathway from an area at atmospheric pressure into a high pressureregion, so there is a steep positive pressure gradient resisting entry.

As shown in FIG. 4, air is fed into the bore 44 through the air inlet 45and hence is directed through the tube 49 into the ductlet 12. Theoptical fibre member 46 is pushed through the inlet end 43 of thefeedhead into the bore 44 and onwards into the tube 49. Pushing of thefibre member 46 continues until the surface area of the fibre memberwhich is exposed to the air flow is sufficiently large to produce a dragforce to cause the further advance of the fibre member 46 through thetube 49 and the ductlet 12, while the rate of feed is controlled bymeans of the aforementioned rubber drive wheels 47 and 48.

FIG. 5 shows a branching connection between an optical fibre trunk line51 and a branch line 52, each comprising a conduit 53 and 54respectively and one or more fibre members 55 and 56. Since, asdescribed above, the fibre members are individually introduced into theductlets of the trunkline conduit 53, individual fibre members 55 can berouted from the trunk conduit 53 into the branch conduit 54 as required,while other fibre members 56 continue to the adjacent section 53a of thetrunkline conduit.

Referring now also to FIG. 6, the drag force on the fibre member 64within the bore 63 of a ductlet, or tube, 62 on account of turbulent airflow through the bore 63 can be calculated as discussed below.

These calculations show that what has been called fluid drag or dragforce above is, in fact, a composite force, of which the majorproportion is normally due to viscous drag, and at least one otherimportant component due to a hydrostatic force, f' as discussed below.It will be appreciated that the exact composition of the drag force doesnot affect the principles of the invention but the more detailedanalysis below can be used to optimize the parameters involved incarrying out the invention, and to obtain some guidance for trial anderror experiments.

The pressure difference between the tube ends can be equated to a shearforce distributed over the inner surface of the bore 63 and the outersurface of the fibre member 64. Thus, one has, for a small element oflength Δl producing a pressure drop Δp

    Δpπ(r.sub.2.sup.2 -r.sub.1.sup.2)=F               (1)

where r₂ =outer tube bore radius, r₁ =inner tube radius and F is theviscous drag force on the inner and outer walls of the elemental length.

If it is now assumed that the force F is distributed evenly over thearea of the inner and outer walls, that is to say the external wall ofthe fibre member and the internal wall of the ductlet respectively, thedrag force, f, on the fibre member per unit length is: ##EQU1## whichgives, in the limit, the drag force on the fibre member per unit length,##EQU2##

in addition, we must consider the hydrostatic force produced by thepressure difference acting on the cross-sectional area of the fibremember. This is locally proportional to the pressure gradient andtherefore is distributed over the installed length of the fibre memberin the same way as the viscous drag force, leading to an additionalforce ##EQU3## giving a total force per unit length of ##EQU4##

In order to get an initial estimate of this it is assumed that thepressure drops linearly over the length of the bore, whether filled bythe fibre member or not. Equation 5 is then plotted, for the case of the6 mm bore diameter with 2.5 mm O.D. fibre member, in FIG. 8, for alength of 300 m. Since pressure is normally quoted in psi it has beenretained here for the sake of convenience.

Coefficients of friction of around 0.5 have been measured for thepolyethylene and polypropylene fibre members against a polyethylene andpolypropylene fibre members against a polyethylene bore wall. Therefore,with a fibre member weighing 3 gms/m we could expect to install a 300 mlength with around 55 psi pressure. Any extra drag force over thatrequired to overcome friction would appear at the start end as agradually increasing tension in the fibre member as installationproceeds.

FIG. 7 shows in diagrammatic form the arrangement of the modified driveunit discussed with reference to FIG. 4, in which the only major changelies in incorporating the drive wheels 77 and 78 within the feedhead 71.

As the foregoing discussion with reference to FIG. 6 has illustrated,the viscous drag force is accompanied by a hydrostatic force, the forcef' of equation 5 above. This force f' has been found to oppose theinsertion of the fibre member into the drive unit, making theincorporation of the drive wheels 77 and 78 into the drive unitpreferable. The force f', referred to above as the hydrostatic potentialmust be overcome when introducing the fibre member into the pressurizedareas. The drive wheels would be driven by a torque just sufficient toovercome this potential.

Focusing on the insertion force necessary to overcome the hydrostaticpotential, this force may be viewed as being that force necessary toovercome the pressure acting on the free end of the fibre (or wire)member. It will thus decrease as the unit is installed and the free endproceeds to regions of lower pressure. It is therefore possible toreduce the insertion force as installation proceeds. In fact, theparticular point along a communications route at which the insertionforce may be completely removed may be calculated as follows.

In the event the installation force (viscous drag) just matches theforce necessary to move the unit through the duct against friction (theproduct of the weight of the unit and the coefficient of friction) thenthe insertion force must be maintained to balance the end force(hydrostatic force).

However, if the viscous drag forces are such as to exceed the frictionalforces then the excess can serve to overcome the end force, thusobviating the need for the insertion force.

This is most likely to be the case for a completely straight route,whereby excess drag force can be completely fed back to the blowinghead, and is not lost by tightening into bends.

In this circumstance the force F on the end of the unit is ##EQU5##where: L=the length of the tube in which the fibre is to be installed

f₁ =force on fibre unit at a position l from the start of the duct

r₁ =inner tube external radius (see FIG. 6)

r₂ =outer tube bore radius (see FIG. 6)

p=the static pressure a distance from the blowing head

p₁ =the supply pressure

p₂ =atmospheric pressure

ω=weight/unit length

μ=coefficient of friction

When these are equal the insertion force can be removed. ##EQU6##Assuming linear pressure gradient ##EQU7## For a typical case of L=500 mP₁ -P₂ =150 psi

r₁ =1 mm

r₂ =3 mm

ω=`gm/m

μ=0.5

Then l=200 m. It is therefore possible, in this example, to completelyremove the insertion force provided, for example, by the drive wheelsafter roughly half the fibre member has been installed. Thus, when thefibre member reaches the 200 m point of such a pathway (or shortlythereafter), a control/switching means may be used to simply de-energizethe drive wheels and move them out of contact with the fiber member in amanner well understood by those skilled in the art. It should also berecognized that, since the hydrostatic force decreases as the free endof the fibre proceeds to regions of lower pressure (as indicated by theabove mathematical analysis), more sophisticated electronic control overthe insertion force producing drive wheels may be exercised, e.g., byvarying the drive wheel motor speed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the drive wheels 77, 78 are incorporated into thepressurized cavity 74 and thus the force on the fibre member necessaryto overcome the hydrostatic potential is tensile. If the wheels wereoutside the drive unit, this force would be compressive, and there wouldbe tendency for the fibre member to buckle. As will be recognized bythose skilled in the art, upon the occurrence of such a buckle (due, forexample, to an excessive insertion force), the insertion force wouldneed to be briefly interrupted until the buckle disappears. Thus, evenbefore the point along the communications route is reached where theinsertion force may be completely removed, there are circumstances whichmay require the insertion force to rise or fall during installation.

For convenience, the drive unit maybe made to split along the fibremember axis, and perpendicular to the diagram, or in some other plane.The air seals, 72, 73 may be, for example, rubber lips, or narrowchannels.

In operation, a fibre member 76 fed into the drive unit would beautomatically taken up by the drive wheels with just enough force toovercome the hydrostatic potential, and fed on along the ductlet 12. Thefluid drag of the air flowing down the ductlet 12 causes the fibremember 76 to be pulled along the ductlet 12 as the installationproceeds. This means that such a drive unit can be placed between twoadjoining sections of conduit so that a fibre member emerging from aductlet in the first conduit can be fed into the appropriate ductlet ofthe second. Thus, an installation could consist of a fibre member 76running through a number of conduits using two or more drive units intandem, possibly without supervision.

It will be appreciated that it is possible to blow compounds in liquidor powder form along the ductlet prior to, or during installation inorder to provide lubrication for the fibre members. Powdered talc is anexample of a suitable lubricant.

The ductlets may, for example, also be formed in a power cable, or in aconventional subscriber line, to allow subsequent installation ofoptical fibre members. In the latter case, to avoid ingress of water,the ductlet may be sealed until the time of installation of the fibremembers.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment of apparatus for introducinga transmission line as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 are exemplary only. Othermeans of introduction may be provided instead, and in such circumstancesit is possible that there will be no positive pressure gradient (i.e.,hydrostatic force), and thus no specific insertion force would benecessary.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of installing an optical communications fibre intoa previously installed long tubular pathway defining a desiredcommunications route, the method comprising the steps of:feeding thefibre through fibre blowing means into said pathway; supplying a gas viathe fibre blowing means to said pathway, the gas passing over said fibrein said pathway to generate a distributed viscous drag force actingalong the increasing length of the fibre in said pathway which forceadvances the fibre along said pathway, the gas passing along the pathwayin the direction of advance at a speed which greatly exceeds the speedof advancement of the fibre, wherein the fibre enters the previouslyinstalled pathway at a point where the pressure is greater thanatmospheric pressure during the advancement of the fibre; and whereinsaid fibre blowing means comprises a gas inlet for the supply of highpressure gas, the gas inlet feeding into a fibre feed portion which isthereby pressurized, the fibre being subject to a forward urging drag inthe pressurized fibre feed portion, the forward urging drag coming onlyfrom gas flow effects.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein thefibre blowing means has first and second gas outlets, the first gasoutlet providing a supply of gas to said previously installed pathway,and the second gas outlet providing a route through which gas escapes tothe atmosphere without passing through said previously installedpathway.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fibre blowingmeans comprises a pressurized zone to which high pressure gas issupplied from the gas inlet, and an unpressurized zone in which thepressure does not exceed atmospheric pressure, the fibre being fed fromthe unpressurized zone to the pressurized zone and then into thepreviously installed pathway, the fibre blowing means providing aforward urging force to the fibre in both the unpressurized andpressurized zones, and wherein the forward urging force which isprovided to the fibre in the pressurized zone comes only from gas floweffects.
 4. A method of installing an optical communications fibre intoa previously installed along tubular pathway defining a desiredcommunications route, the method comprising the steps of:feeding thefibre through fibre blowing means into said pathway; supplying a gas viathe fibre blowing means to said pathway, the gas passing over said fibrein said pathway to generate a distributed viscous drag force actingalong the increasing length of the fibre in said pathway which forceadvances the fibre along said pathway, the gas passing along the pathwayin the direction of advance at a speed which greatly exceeds the speedof advancement of the fibre; wherein the fibre enters the previouslyinstalled pathway at a point where the pressure is greater thanatmospheric pressure during the advancement of the fibre; and whereinsaid fibre blowing means comprises a gas inlet for the supply of highpressure gas to a pressurized zone, the pressurized zone of the fibreblowing means having first and second gas outlets, the first gas outletproviding a supply of gas to said previously installed pathway, thesecond gas outlet providing a route through which gas escapes to theatmosphere without passing through said previously installed pathway,the fibre blowing means providing a forward urging force to thecommunications fibre; and wherein the forward urging force which isprovided to the communications fibre in the pressurized zone of thefibre blowing means comes only from gas flow effects.
 5. A method asclaimed in claim 4 wherein the communications fibre advances through thesecond gas outlet against the flow of gas.
 6. A method as claimed inclaim 5 wherein mechanical drive means are provided in the unpressurizedzone to feed the fibre into the pressurized zone of the fibre blowingmeans.